By NNN-WAM
Abu Dhabi : The Red Crescent Authority (RCA) and the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have signed an agreement to rehabilitate the ‘al-Nayrab camp’ for Palestinian refugees in Syria.
As per this agreement, the RCA will finance the project at a cost of AED18 million, while the UNRWA will supervise the execution phases of the project, which includes construction of 140 residential units to house 670,000 refugees, besides building well-equipped health centre to serve 18,000 refugees.
Saleh Mohammed Al Mulla, deputy secretary-general for relief and projects affairs signed the agreeement Thursday on the RCA side, while Ambassador Peter Ford, commissioner-general of UNRWA signed on behalf of UNRWA.
Ford hailed the humanitarian role shouldered by the UAE in the international arena in general and Palestine in particular, citing the UAE efforts in rehabilitation of the Jenin camp in the West Bank, construction of the Sheikh Khalifa city in Khanyunis and construction of Bait Hanon in the Gaza Strip, “spurred other donors to follow suit in picking up infrastructure and service provision to the Palestinians”.
He commended the efforts of the RCA under the leadership of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and chairman of the RCA on the Palestinian arena, adding that the UAE has recently donated USD 4 million to refugees in the Gaza Strip to buy food items, which will be delivered through UNRWA.
“The rehabilitation of al-Nayrab camp, which was constructed 60 years ago, has been a major concern for UNRWA and inhabitants as its houses are dilapidated and on the verge of collapse,” Ford remarked.
On his part, Al Mulla reiterated that the rehabilitation of the camp is part of “fruitful efforts exerted by the UAE leadership to alleviate suffering of the needy people worldwide”.